Latch mechanism



F. SCHMIDGALL.

LATCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATION rlLEovuAn. 29, 1921.

Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET l.

gwuunto'c dM/.mf

F. SCHMIDGALL.

LATCH MECHANISM.

APPLICATIoN mso ma. 29. 1921.

Patented 001;. 18, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- cw m,

UNITED STA'LES PATENT OFFICE.

LATCH MECHANISBI.

Ap'piication ined Marcil se, i921.

To all whom it may @moer-n.'

Be it known that l, FREDERICK Scrutin- GALL, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in LatchMechanism, of which the following is a specification.

effected. Another object is to provide conveniently for opening the doorfrom the inside, either by hand or by the impact of .a truck against alatch releasing member.

Another. object is to provide an improved simple and reliable latchmechanism adapted tobe applied either right-hand or lefthand as may berequired. Another object is to provide an improved latch mechanismadapted to be employed either as a single latch or to be connected inparallel arrange ment to latch theA door at more than one point and withall the latches actuated in unison. My invenion also `comprises certaindetailsof form combination and arrangement, all of which will be fullyset forth in the'description of the accompanying` drawings, in which; jFigure 1 is a plan of acold-storage room door and door frame with myimproved latch mechanism applied thereto.

Fig. 2, is a vertical sectional detail on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 8, is a horizontal sectional detail on line 3-8 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4, is a horizontal vsectional detail on line 4-4 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 5, is a view similar to Fig. 4, on

line 4-4 of Fig. 1, showing a different position of the latch.

i Fig. 6, is a vertical sectional detail on line 6 6 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 7, is a perspective view of the vlatch l keeper detached.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the prefered embodiment of myinvention in which 15 represents door and 16 the door Specification ofLetters Patent.

' end to Patented Oct. 18, 1921.

Serial No. 456,609.

frame of1 a refrigerator or cold-storage room door. he door is mountedby means of hinges 17 to swing relative to the door frame, and at itsopposite edge is provided with alatch mechanism comprising latchmechanism or members carried on the door to engage latch keepermechanism mounted upon the door frame.

rllhe'latch mechanism carried by the door comprises a latch plate 18rigidly attached to th door and provided with outwardly projecting lugs19 and 20 between which is pivotally mounted a movable latch memberhaving a handle 22 by means of which it may be manually actuated inclosing and oi-iening the door. l

The latch plate 18 is also provided with a cylindrial stud 24 carriedrigidly by the plate 18 and which overhangs the edge of the door andserves as a journal support for a cylindrical roller 25, which isrotatablyT mounted upon the stud 24. The stud 24 may be formed integralwith the plate 18, or may be formed separately and detachably andrigidly attached to the Lplate. 1S as illustrated. A head 26 on the stud24 serves to retain the roller 25 in place upon the stud rl`he forwardend 27 of the movable atch member is crescent shaped-in cross ection andis movable to and fro from the roller 2 5, and 'ts concave face closelyfits tnencyhr ical, exterior of the roller 25.

ihe latch teeper mechanism carried by the door frame comprises a keeperhousing 30 rigidly attached to the door frame, a latch lkeeper 31 havingdouble inclined faces 32 and at its upper engage the roller V25 and the-gips@ 27 of the movable latch member 21. ihe latchgkeerer 31l isprovided with a shank 84 which is sheathed within the housing 30 and isengaged by a coil spring 35 housed within the housing 30, and whichserves to thrust the latch keeper yielding-ly upward. The latch keeperengages the sides of a recess 36 in the housing S to Drevent the latchkeeper turning rotatably upon its longer axis with reference to thehousing 30. rlhe keeper 31 is also provided with a slot 37 through whichpasses a pin 38 wliich also passes through perforations in the casing 30and serves to limit the upward movement of the latch keeper 31'relativeto the housing 30. rlhe lower end of the spring 35 bears upon an anoleplate 4() which is adjustable vertically relative to the door frame andhousing- 30, in order to variably adjust the tension of the sprin uponthe latch keeper. The angle plate 4:0 is provided with a series ot screwholes through any one of which the screw all may be passed and seated inthe door trame to lock the plate l0 rigidly to the door trame.

It is -frequently desirable on large and heavy cold storage doors toemploy two or more latch mechanisms, say one near the top of the doorand one suliiciently above the bottom ot' the doei' to beconif'enientlf. operated7 while for smaller doors only a single latchn'iechanism is required. lli/There only a single latch mechanism is tobe used a plain cylindrical pivot pin may be employed to pivotallyattach the latch member 21 to the ears 19 and 20. l,Where two or morelatch mechanisms are to be employed upon a single door and operated inunison by a single hand lever 22, l preferably provide a verticalconnecting;` bar st ot polygonal cross section which passes throughcorresponding polygonal recesses in the respective upper and lower latchmember 21j so that whenone oit said latch members 'x21 is actuated theother latch members 21 are also actuated through the connecting bar a5.In order to cmivenientlyv pivotally mount the connecting bar withreference to the projections 19 and 2O et the respective latch members18, I preferably profile sleeves 46 and l? l'iavingi; cylindricalexteriors to be pivotally mounted relative to the projections 19 and 2Oand with polygonal interiors to engage the polygonal faces ot the bar45, so that said sleeves t@ and a7 may turn with said rod 45. 1 haveillustrated the lower end of the sleeve 4f? as closed and the lower endof the bar stepped therein but the rod may pass entirely through thesleeve 4T and may be otherwise supported itl' desired.

In order that the door 1na \Y be conveniently opened from the interior lprovide a rod 50 passing' endwise through the door and havingi a handle51 threaded to its inner end, and preferably locked thereto by a setscrew 52. The opposite end of the rod 50 is bent at right angles andengages a slot 53 in the movable latch member 21, so that the latchmember 21 may be actuated through the rod 50 from inside of the door,either by grasping and pushingor pulling on the handle 51, or by causinga truck to bump against the handle 50, or 4inner end of the rod 50. lnpractice the thickness ot' the doors varies, and by threading' thehandle 51 to the inner end ot the rod 50` the handle 51 may be 'beadjusted to the thickness of the door and the set-screw! tightened,alter which any excess in the length of the rod 50 may be cut of itdesired. The rod 50 may be conveniently adjusted for either a right-handdoor or a lett-hand door to the latch inember 21. rl strap handle 55 isalso preterably provided on the inside ot' the door for the convenienceot the operator.

It is to be noted that the latch mechanism carried by the door and alsothat carried by the door trame can be applied without change to either aright-hand door or to a lett-hand door, and that due to the extent towhich the latch members 25 and 2T project over the edge ot the door andtheir operative relation to the keeper, a considerable .latitude in theadjustment ot the latch mechanism upon the door and keeper mechanismupon the door trame is permissible without renderingY the mechanisminoperative, and also that relative movement of said latch and keepermechanism due to dampness and swelling or shrinking ot' the door or door:traine is not liable to render the apparatus inoperative.

ln operation when the door is closed the -lpringg,` actuated keeperthrusts its upper end or nose yieldingly upwardly between the roller andthe latch member 2 to separate themj at the same time forcingthe doorinto closed position by inclined tace 32 directly forcing the rollerstud 2l and plate i8, and with them the door to closed position. Thelatch member 2l is also utili'fzed as a lever to the end 2i" ot whichYtorce .is applied through the incline 33, and the opposite end olfwhich at 21 bears upon the plate 18 to indirectly force the door toclosed position. l

When the .latch member 2l is actuated by hand, the energy ot the keeperin holding the door closed is overcome, and the roller rides up theincline l2 of the keeper while the nose 27 rides up the incline ot' thekeeper until the roller 25 contacts with the concave lace ot the nose"2T, and the latch member 21 has reached the limit of its nieveiuent,which carries the roller over the crest at the upper end of the keeperso that the roller is in position to ride down the in: eline 33 olt thekeeper.- The closing otl the roller and nose 2T together forces thekeeper downwardly endwise against its spring 35, but as soon as theroller has passed the crest of the keeper the keeper is thrust upward byits spring' causing' the roller to ride down the incline 38, therebyforcingF the door open. When the door is beingclosed, as soon as theroller has passed the crest of the keeper and commences to ride down theincline 32, the door is forced closed by the action of the keeper, andany tendency oit the door to rebound is absorbed resiliently by thekeeper. @ne important action of the roller and nose 27 ointly when theymeet and separate is to insure the roller crossinginstead of beinghung;up on the crest ot the keeper. Other advantages ot my improved latchmechanism are that the thickness of the jamb 58 may vary considerablywithout affecting the operativeness of the latch mechanism; the latchmechanism tends to lift or prevent sagging of the door both at thekeeper, and also due to the latch 2l moving outwardly instead of beingpressed downwardly; and the constant yielding pressure to hold the doorclosed. lf desired the door may be locked by attaching. a pad-lock tothe keeper through the upper end of the slot 3T.

The apparatus herein illustrated and described is capable ofconsiderable modifi cation without departing` from the principle of myinvention.

lVhat I claimis:

l. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached 'to a doorhaving a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of akeeper yieldingly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movablymounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to andfrom said roller and having a recess to receive a portion of the face ofsaid roller and a resiliently supported latch keeper having anupf-.vardly directed nose with outwardly directed inclined 'faces atopposite sides thereof, the nose of said latch keeper being interposedbetween said roller and latch member to hold the door in closedposition.

2. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached to a doorhaving a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of akeeper' yielding-ly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movablymounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to andfrom said roller, a latch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, alatch keeper resiliently supported by said housing and movable at theopening and closing of said door out of the patch of said roller, saidlatch keeper having a nose with outwardly directed inclined faces overwhich said roller is adapted to travel in opening and closing said door.

3. A latch mechanism comprising a latch plate to be attached to a doorhaving a roller journaled thereto and projecting into the path of akeeper yieldingly mounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movablymounted upon said latch plate and provided with a nose movable to andfrom said roller, a latch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, alatch 'keeper resiliently supported by said housing and having a limitedmovement relative to said keeper housing at the opening and closing ofsaid door to enable said keeper to move out of the path of said roller,said latch keeper having two inclined faces meeting in a nose over whichinclined faces and nose said roller is adapted to travel in opening andclesing said door, and one of said inclined faces serving to engage saidroller to hold the door in closed position` l. A latch mechanismcomprising a latch plate to be attached to a door having a rollerjournaled thereto and proj ecting into the path of a keeper yieldinglymounted upon the door frame, a latch lever movably mounted upon saidlatch plate and provided with a nose movable to and from said roller, alatch keeper housing mounted upon the door frame, a latch keeperresiliently supported by said housing and havin@` a limited movementrelative to said keeper housing at the opening and closing of said doorto enable said keeper to move out of the path of said roller, and meansto adjust the resilient tension on said latch keeper, said latch keeperhaving two inclined faces meeting in a nose over which inclined facesand nose said roller` is adapted to travel in opening and closing saiddoor, and one of said inclined faces serving to engage said roller tohold the door in closed aosition.

ln testimony whereo I have affixed my signature.

FREDERICK SCHMIDGALL.

